What my career could’ve been

Me on my first day at the TU (yes, those are stockings with my sandals).

Butterflies danced in my stomach as I said good-bye to my parents 11 years ago today. I was on my way to my first real journalism job — as an editorial assistant at the Times Union.

This was the paper I’d grown up with, the one we read in school for our participation in government class or when we had to “play” the stock market in economics. It was the publication my parents saved every year on my birthday — and my sister’s.

The reporters — like Mark McGuire, Fred LeBrun and Carol DeMare — had spoken in my high school classes and I was in awe of their jobs. I wanted to string words together for print. I wanted to entertain, to educate, to inform like they all did.

As of today they would no longer be bylines and woodcuts, but my colleagues. I was going to be a Times Union employee.

But it almost didn’t happen.

The week prior to interviewing with the TU, I’d interviewed at the American Red Cross over in Albany for a PR position (I remember the woman being turned off that I wasn’t a golfer) and talked with the editor at the Saratogian. The north country newspaper had a position covering town board and city council meetings. While this wasn’t my dream (I really wanted to be a health reporter), it was a start at a respected daily.

I was imagining my business card with the Saratogian emblem when the Times Union called inviting me in for an interview.

I was the first of nearly a dozen candidates they would talk with for the editorial assistant position in the features department. A week went by and I heard nothing. Another week and still no calls. I called here (this is before e-mail was as big as it is now) and was told they were “still deciding.”

Convinced they were going with someone else, I called the Saratogian. They said they, too, were still deciding. Since they were smaller than the TU, I thought that one was more likely to happen.

The following week I heard the Saratogian offered the job to someone else. I continued substitute teaching, and went about applying for jobs in just about any English-speaking country I could find. (Despite nine years of French, I was a foreign language-speaking disaster.)

And then, nearly three weeks after my interview with the Times Union, Teresa Buckley called my (parents’) house. I was teaching, so she passed the message through my mom — they wanted to offer me the job.

Three days later I joined the staff at the TU — where I sat directly across from Mark (McGuire) who, along with Teresa and Steve (who didn’t want to hire me, but that’s a whole other story), ended up teaching me more about journalism in my first few months at the paper than I learned in four years of college.

Bert-Bert, it came down to me and another guy. As for Steve preferring the other candidate, he says “I don’t recall it specifically, but I’m sure my rationale was something like, ‘Why would we want to hire someone who has TV experience and knows almost nothing about the arts to do a clerical job that has as a large percentage of its responsibilities the compilation of our arts calendars?'”

It must be the photo perspective and, I know that you are tall, but you look like a giant next to the cars (no offense).

That’s a great story. I also would like to know why Steve didn’t want to hire you. Especially, since I gathered from other references you’ve made, that he, specifically, was very mentor-y to you subsequently (maybe I mis-interpreted). Also, wasn’t Mark the TC guy back then? I sort of thought he was a TV guy before he was a sports guy (again, I have a fuzzy memory).

Mick, while I still know most every PR/media rep at all the arts venues in the area (and every bar owner and band leader from years of compiling the bars and clubs listings), my connection to the arts became minimal after I left that EA position to become a features reporter.

While I loved that job, I liked being a reporter (and now the SMS) much better.

11 years ago? Oh boy. I remember when we were hiring for that opening because it was one of my old jobs. Filing arts pics, writing the arts calendar, and copy-editing the TV book. Uggh.
Simpler times, before blogs, Twitter or Facebook, when all we had was the ink-on-paper newspaper and a tiny little Web site tucked in the corner of the newsroom. Someday, our grandkids won’t believe it.

Awwww!!! I love this post…and my first impression of the pic was “wow, she’s much taller now” lol. Congrats on your anniversary…I’m so glad you became a TU staffer – look at the huge following you’ve created, the crazy (sometimes heated) conversations your blog has created, and all the sushi that has been eaten! :)

It looks like you were dressed for an audition for a part in a re-make of the Brady Bunch but congratulations on getting the job you really desired. Most people just go to work for a pay check and health insurance and it sounds like you are not one of those people.

Also, you can not mention the “whole other story” and not mention why Steve did not want to hire you.

After reading your reply to Mick (#13) I’m curious if this post is secretly leading into your eventual revelation of how you met R? You’ve mentioned you met through work, but not the blog, so this little timecapsule post could be a fun start to a string of posts tracing your career & connection to him.